cherry valley forever
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roma★
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
Jimmy Eat World
𓃗
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art blog(derogatory)
sheepfilms
Sade Olutola
if i look back, i am lost
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KIROKAZE
todays bird
Show & Tell
Cookie Run:Kingdom Official!
Game Changer & Make Some Noise
izzy's playlists!
Monterey Bay Aquarium
tannertan36
seen from Maldives
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seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
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seen from Kyrgyzstan
seen from United Kingdom
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@r0mantic-f00l
liz - she/her - twenties
i write mainly for marauders!era <3
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
MASTERLIST
marauders era <3
sirius black
-☆-
regulus black
-♡-
james potter
- Secret Admirer
remus lupin
- Interfering with a Love Life
prompts (if you want me to write any of these, feel free to request!)
music
Hello! I just wanted to say that I Love the soleil et lune series so far!
Was wondering if Eurydice is like a placeholder for y/n? Cuz I Know some fic writers do that and I noticed there’s no physical description, only just vague references to her appearance in your fic?
hey, thank you so much for the love really appreciate it!
it’s a good question, and really the answer is it’s up to you
you can either see eurydice as a placeholder for y/n, or in a way create your own character through her? if that makes sense, i’m sorry if it doesn’t 😭
but yeah, i don’t really describe her appearance much because i want to leave that bit up to you guys!
we need to protest against the over-feminisation of sirius orion black cuz wtf is happening 😭
no doubt that sirius was a lil feminine, with like painted nails and longish hair, but he’s not walking around in crop tops and skirts like it’s still the 70s guys 😔
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
William Dreary was killed last week, on the 5th of January. After a joyous time in his local pub in Colne, Lancashire, William walked home in the night, despite many of his friends insisting that they must walk with him.
It is estimated that at 1:13 in the morning, Dreary was killed with the worst Unforgiveable Curse – the death spell. What’s more shocking, is that the murderer is his brother, Eugene Dreary.
Other family members have stated that Eugene Dreary, the younger brother of the two, had fallen in with the wrong sort – with Tom Riddle’s loyalists. Be warned, Eugene Dreary has not yet been caught. His picture is below; if anyone has seen him or has information, please contact the Ministry of Magic straightaway.
We wish nothing but the best for the Dreary family, and please know that during these difficult times, we all raise our wands up high to the sky where all these victims of Tom Riddle’s growing army rest.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Cacophonous chatter entered the library every single time the large, creaky doors opened. Once they had closed, it was as if there was not a single other soul in the castle.
Yet, Regulus huffed every time those doors opened. It seemed as if every pupil of Hogwarts was on a break from lessons, with almost every table full of students discussing quietly about who did what, or who didn’t do what. It was intolerable. It was horrible. It was unbearable. However, it was sitting in the library trying to read or sitting in the common room surrounded by worshippers of Tom Riddle, whilst trying to read.
Regulus chose the first.
The feeling that all his fellow friends, who were once full of viridity, now happy followers of a Pureblood cult; it was sickening. Yet, what was worst to Regulus, was the undeniable knowledge that he possessed the same views once. When he did not know better. When he did not know what his parents did not teach him.
Guilt was beginning to fall heavier upon him, whilst voices in his head swirled around, spouting these awful lies that his parents taught him. He shook his head as if the thoughts would fall out of place, and sometimes they would. Yet, they would always return to haunt him.
The mark on his forearm held the reminder of the person he was, the person he despised with every fibre of his being, the person his parents loved dearly. The person his brother wished was dead.
Reading newspapers, which consisted of what these Death-Eaters were up to, how they were growing and growing, how they were killing and killing. Regulus would frown and then remember that he was technically one of them. His frown would turn deeper.
Chair legs dragging on the wooden floorboard pulled Regulus from the depths of his mind as someone had sat down on the same table as him.
He glanced upon this person, frowning when another sat beside them and began a whispering conversation. Due to this, he stood up with his Daily Bugle tucked under his arm, and walked towards the back corner of the library, perusing through the books.
A hushed conversation was happening in front of him, on the other side of the bookshelf, and Regulus rolled his eyes in annoyance, deciding to finally leave and perhaps gather a book from his room, before he listened to the hushed voices more clearly. He recognised one of them clearly.
“So I asked her to dance with me, and so she did,”
“Amazing she said yes, even though you’ve got two left feet.”
“I can actually be a rather good dancer when it comes to it, Prongs.”
A snicker followed.
“Alright, carry on.”
Regulus froze as Sirius kept talking. He then realised in that moment; it had been the first time in a year that he had heard his voice.
“We’re dancing, and she’s laughing, Godric that laugh, and we’re getting closer and closer to each other. I think we’re about to kiss, and finally, finally, my dreams since my 13th birthday is coming true, I have everything I could ever want right in the palms of my hands… then she runs off.”
A gasp followed. Regulus rolled his eyes.
“Why?”
“I don’t bloody know! She just… runs off! So I’m following after her, and we’re both running up to the Astronomy tower, and when I finally get there, she’s just gone. Like she vanished into thin air.”
“Maybe your breath stank.”
A whack is heard.
“My breath did not stink! I had numerous mints throughout the night.”
“Bit ambitious.”
“Anyway, since then she’s acting as if that night just never happened.”
“Maybe she really likes you, and thinks that you don’t feel the same way?”
“Why would she think that, I’m pretty obvious over the fact that I’m practically in love with her.”
“Pads, don’t know how else to tell you this so here it goes; you’re pretty much a slag. A man-whore. A—”
“Alright, James I get the picture.”
All that can be heard is footsteps, as their voices get further away. All Regulus did was glance sideways and there he was. His brother.
Their conversation halted as Sirius stared at Regulus.
Then, as if they were mere strangers, Sirius walked away, his best friend following close to his footsteps.
The thought that he used to share toys with Sirius, that he used to run away from him during Pretend Quidditch, that they used to sit facing each other by the dining table and kick each other’s legs, was foreign to Regulus.
It was as if, it was all part of his imagination.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It was midnight when the library doors opened by themselves and closed gently. Eurydice threw off the Invisibility cloak and folded it up neatly on her arm as she practically skipped towards Regulus with a smile that rivalled the glow of the Sun.
Regulus grinned slightly as she took a seat next to him, the wooden chair scraping across the floor whilst she sighed joyfully, almost in relief.
“Bonjour.” She had greeted, her smile only growing when Regulus nodded in acknowledgement.
“What are you reading?” She asked, tilting her head to read the book cover.
“Just poetry.” Regulus replied, closing the book and placing it on the chair behind him.
Eurydice nodded, her smile faltering when Regulus seemed to avoid eye contact with her.
“What’s wrong?”
He could have told the truth. He could have said that he overheard Sirius talking in the library. He could have said that he heard Sirius talking about her dancing with him, about how they were getting closer and closer, almost turning into a kiss. He could have said to her to stop pretending as if he was Sirius, as if he was the first choice, and not the pity choice. Most important of all, he could have said how his mind was much too loud, much too plethoric.
“Nothing.” Regulus answered.
Eurydice did not seem too convinced, with her slight frown, yet knew better to dig deeper for more information as it would have been a fruitless effort. Instead, she took his cold hand gently into hers and began drawing faint lines onto it with her finger whilst talking about her day.
Regulus listened deeply, feeling his cold, weary bones become uplifted with the warmth that was her. Yet his mind remained frozen, became a scratched record spinning over and over with the one thought – you will never be him, never as perfect and golden as him.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
this song but with the black brothers
walburga seeing sirius in regulus ever since sirius left
worst thing is, regulus knows
why do i do this to myself 😭
ꜱᴏʟᴇɪʟ ᴇᴛ ʟᴜɴᴇ
ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜɴ
ʙᴜᴛ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
soundtrack
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖊
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖔
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
so all the chapters that i have posted in the past couple of days have been pre-written, i have only just uploaded them onto here.
there is a new chapter coming tomorrow that has not been pre-written! i’m thinking of writing one chapter per week for this, maybe more sometimes, who knows 🤷♀️
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
Blades of thin green amongst the ground was no longer accompanied by flowers, but rather leaves that were devoid entirely of colour, turning to mush in the soil. The Sun made rare appearances, only escaping from the grasps of the clouds for a brief moment before being captured once again, forced to spend her days hidden behind a wall of soft white.
The Moon had missed his lover, his heartbreak from their departure shown in the way that his neighbouring glimmers of light glowed dimly.
Winter could be cruel, could be merciless in what it took away and provided. Winter always pulled away the warmth of the Sun and instead replaced the air with the coldness of the Moon.
Winter lasted until people's emotions had become frozen, their hearts icicles until a sliver of the Sun's glow would shine through and melt the frosted interior.
Eurydice never turned cold. Not when she was younger, a mere innocent girl who was naïve to the world around her. Perhaps she wasn't naïve. No, she chose to live in oblivion because it was easier, it was simpler to love a boy she should have never loved. But she did. Like the Sun loved the Moon.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Warmth radiated through the room, the fire twirling with its flames as a small orange glow casted out.
Lily was snoring quietly, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary sleeping peacefully whilst Eurydice gazed at the Moon, admiring the, albeit diminished, glow he provided.
The clock's hands pointed to 11:37pm, a perfect time for the girl sneak out to her mystery lover.
Eurydice stepped into her slippers beside her bed and threw her dressing gown on, taking cautious and quiet steps out of the dorm room before closing the door as quietly and slowly as she possibly could.
She checked the common room for any midnight stragglers then proceeded down the stairs once she discovered no one to be found.
She left, hurrying to the library with a smile on her face – she would see him again. Her Reggie.
It had been a week since they had begun talking again, since Regulus had broken down in her arms, since he showed her his mark.
"A Christmas gift from my dear cousin," he had said with tears streaming down his face.
Regulus was not one of them, he was not a monster. He was the light of the Moon, the calmness of ocean waves. He was not a monster. He was a star amongst a family of darkness.
Eurydice finally arrived at the library, opening the doors, and closing them quietly before turning around where she stood.
He had been reading Little Women, as it seemed, before she had entered the room. His gaze was now on her rather than the pages of the book.
His gaze was no longer indifferent towards her. It was how the Moon looked at the Sun as she slipped down into her slumber.
"Bonjour." Eurydice softly murmured with a grin, making the boy reciprocate her smile.
"Bonjour." He repeated, staring at her movement as she took a seat next to him beside the long table.
"Were... were you reading Little Women?" She lifted up the book from the table and held it towards Regulus, who in return nodded smally, his usually pale cheeks tinted a light shade of red.
"Yes. I just... well I thought you liked the book so I..." The boy trailed off, clearing his throat as he took the book from her and closed it.
She smiled, something that she did all the time ever since their first kiss, and inched her fingers closer to his.
"I do like it. One of my favourite books, actually."
"I know. Little Women had been your favourite book since you read it when you were eleven years old, and your second favourite book The Great Gatsby... which I am planning to read after I finish this one." Regulus glanced down at the book in front of him, growing timid in his words whilst she only glowed more.
"Tu me connais bien." Eurydice spoke almost perfectly, her pronunciation of the French words slightly flawed, but nevertheless it still made Regulus grin.
"Bien sûr, tu es la seule personne avec qui j'aime être."
"What was the last bit?" Eurydice smiled when Regulus chuckled and shook his head to her question.
"You'll know when you learn more French, ma lumiére."
Eurydice pouted and slumped in her chair, making the boy only laugh more at her faux disappointment.
Comfortable silence filled the air between the two as they both gazed at each other freely, smiles growing with each second as their eyes fell upon the different features on their faces.
"How was your day?" Regulus asked with a soft voice.
"Boring, really. But now it's better." Eurydice answered, and he smiled once more.
"That's the same for me." He murmured.
Both began leaning in closer, magnetic forces pulling them close together as their lips brushed only once before Eurydice kissed him, her lips slotting perfectly between his as Regulus' hands went to her face, holding it delicately as they shared a loving kiss.
It lasted for a minute, maybe more, before the boy pulled away, opening his eyes upon the girl's lovesick gaze.
Yet from the corner of his eyes, he could see darkness swirling on his pale skin, a mark burned onto his skin as a reminder of what he descended from.
He dropped his hands away from her face and pulled down the sleeve to his pyjama shirt harshly, turning away from Eurydice as his eyes turned translucent, but his frown was etched onto his face.
The girl understood what had happened, she knew how much the mark not only angered him, but also terrified him. She knew the pain he had felt whenever he saw a glimpse of it peeking out. She knew what it had meant to him.
So, she rested her hand on his other arm, rubbing lines into his skin as she patiently waited for the boy's thoughts to become quiet once more.
"..I always forget that it's there." Regulus muttered, not facing Eurydice as she glanced up at him.
"It's strange how easily forgettable it is, yet how painfully memorable it can be."
She frowned, moving closer to him as she spoke.
"I always forget that it's there. I don't even see it most of the time."
"You shouldn't forget." Regulus answered firmly.
"It's the mark of a murderer."
"You're not a murderer, Reggie."
"I could be. I might be. I might have the blood of many resting on my hands in the future."
"You won't." Eurydice said, and Regulus finally faced her.
"You're a good person, Reggie. You're not like them, and you won't ever be."
She placed her hand on his cold cheek, her fingers tucking away his curly black hair as he stared into her eyes with a gaze that was quite similar to those who claimed to have witnessed God.
"Why are you so kind?" He asked, as if kindness was a trait nobody possessed.
Eurydice grinned and shook her head. "I'm not being kind, I'm being honest."
She felt his hand inch closer to hers, hesitant in what he wanted to do, so Eurydice took the lead for him, and intertwined her fingers between his, to which he stared at deeply, adoringly, lovingly, whilst the girl smiled.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The Moon's glow diminished further that night, clouds of black becoming a mist shielding the world from his misery as he watched the two lovers rejoice in each other's company. He knew how this would end, he had experienced it himself with his Sun, his love. One would walk away burned, and one would walk away cold.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
On Christmas Day, Arthur Finley and his family was murdered by the heretics that have been plaguing our country for quite some time now. This innocent family was killed on what is supposed to be a joyful day simply because Arthur was a Muggleborn.
The people who were involved in the Finley's death are the proclaimed Death-Eaters, loyalists to Tom Riddle. The Minister of Magic is aware of the prevalent problem regarding these psychopaths (as shown in his most recent speech), but he does not seem to be taking any action regarding creating a solution about this dangerous situation.
Muggleborns are no longer safe in this country at the moment. If you are one yourself, please be wary of anyone slightly suspicious to you. If you come across a Death-Eater, please disapparate immediately to the safest place you are familiar with. If you know any information about Tom Riddle and his devoted followers, please inform the Ministry of Magic and help as much as you can.
Remember, stay safe.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The newspaper material rubbed against Regulus' fingers as he held the paper, his eyes no longer scanning across the front page which had moving pictures of a smiling man and his large family, the tagline 'Arthur Finley and his family'.
The boy knew firsthand how dangerous everything was becoming, he had seen it himself as his sadistic family smiled over news of dead Muggleborns, when his mother praised the Dark Lord for his consistent and impressive efforts, when his father stood up at the head of the dinner table on Christmas day and toasted to the end of Muggleborns.
That's why he felt such fear raising inside of him, engulfing him whole as he fought his way out, but to no avail; there was no way out. Not for him. He was their last chance, their last son.
Regulus had finished reading the paper five minutes prior, lost in the cacophony that was his mind. He only floated back to reality when he heard a crash outside the dorm, followed by shouting and laughing.
He didn't realise he had tears built up in his eyes until one slipped down his cheek.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It had been two weeks since everyone had returned to Hogwarts, students walking around with stacks of books and papers, their frowns painted on their faces as they dragged their feet across the floor.
It had been two weeks of Regulus avoiding the girl that had intoxicated his mind and poisoned his heart.
It had been two weeks of Regulus not seeing his Sunshine.
Even seeing Eurydice in his peripheral vision was too much for the broken boy, who had to walk the other way as soon as her bright face came into view. He wanted his life before he met her, he wanted to return to emptiness and coldness, he wanted to forget he ever knew her. Regulus knew that was impossible though, knew that the imprint she had left on his heart would remain in every universe, would remain even when his body would rot.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The first night back at Hogwarts, Regulus locked his dorm door because he could not trust himself to stay in the room and avoid going to the library. He had given the key to Barty, who was confused as to why Regulus suddenly deemed him responsible, but nevertheless still took it and placed it on his chain necklace.
Regulus did not sleep; he spent the rest of the night sitting against the door as he let the darkness swallow him whole and spit him out empty.
He was doing all this for her. He was going insane and torturing himself so she could be safe, away from him, away from everything bad for her.
Even if it meant her forgetting him.
He was easily forgettable anyway. Even his own brother had erased his existence.
The clocks turned to nine pm, and Regulus was strolling around the castle, placed on patrol duty with other Prefects surveying other parts of the large castle.
He did not know how he ended up walking past the library doors every now and then, he believed it was an external force, perhaps pure habit. But he did know deep down that his heart was compelling him to her.
He was walking along the entrance to the library when her face had come into sight.
He stopped, as did she.
"Regulus?" Eurydice softly spoke, taking but one step towards the boy.
That one step woke him from his dreamlike state, and the boy began walking away, growing faster in his steps as he heard footsteps behind him, ignoring the desperate calls from the girl whom he had not seen in weeks.
It seemed she gave up eventually, frantic footsteps no longer following his trail, and Regulus went back to his common room, Prefect duties ignored as he sat by the fireplace and gazed into the orange embers.
Even fire was not as warm as her. But fire was just as dangerous as him.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
One week.
One week had passed since that incident outside the library.
Regulus had isolated himself, not talking to Barty, to Evan, to anyone else that had the nerve to approach him.
He performed the basic human functions he needed to survive; he ate, he drank, he slept. But anything else, he could not do.
He did not read any books, for they instilled urges for the boy to run to the library and wait until Eurydice would enter through those doors and sit across from him, speaking in terrible French with that adorable fake accent.
All he did was watch snow melt, and think about his golden ray of sunlight, his sunflower, his angel. His Eurydice.
But she wasn't really his. She could never be his. He cared for her too much.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It had been another week.
Regulus grew exhausted.
Purple eyebags sunk deep under his eyes.
His head hung low.
His heart pumped slower.
His hands grew colder.
It was bitingly cold one night, but Regulus could not feel anything, accustomed to harsh cold attacking his body.
He couldn't sleep, yet again.
He decided to walk outside, snow no longer on the ground and had instead been replaced with mud.
He went into the gardens, Professor Sprout's proud monument.
He walked towards the greenhouse, opening the glass door gently.
He looked up.
And there she was.
Eurydice had appeared to be sitting on an uncomfortable wooden stool, whilst she faced the sunflowers which had wilted slightly in their pots. Her hair was in a braid, wisps of hair twirling as the breeze from the small, opened window at the top brushed against her. She had her soft white dressing gown wrapped around her, matching slippers on her feet. Her eyes seemed to have a soft purple beneath them, not as sunken in as Regulus' eyebags, but her frown was just as worried.
She stared at him when he opened the door, her shoulders relaxing as Regulus froze in the doorway, just like he did outside the library.
She knew what he was going to do next, so she stood up in advance, calling Regulus' name as he walked away in a hurry.
He made sure to not walk on the beautiful flowers outside as he hurried in any other direction away from her.
However, he was too slow in his movement, panic enveloping him as he heard her footsteps get closer and closer.
"Regulus!" She called again, this time firmer.
Knowing that he could not escape her, he turned around and avoided her gaze.
"Regulus."
She took a step closer.
"Regulus, where have you been?"
He did not respond.
"Why have you been avoiding me?"
No response.
"Regulus, look at me."
His stare did not move from the ground.
"Please, look at me."
Perhaps it was the falter in her voice that made him look up, but he regretted doing so, the sight of her tear-stained cheeks and her quivering lips making his frozen heart crack.
He had seen her like this before, when his friends called her a Mudblood, and he comforted her, listened to her, made her smile. He did not think in that moment he would hurt her like this.
But he would do anything for her. Even if it meant hurting her to keep her safe.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" She repeated her question.
Regulus could not answer.
"Do... do you regret it? The kiss? Do you regret me?"
"No! No, I could never regret you." Regulus exclaimed, perfectly speaking after days of being silent.
"Then why have you been avoiding me?" Eurydice sniffled, her frown only growing as the boy searched for an answer in his mind.
"I-I've been busy."
"Oh, please Regulus, you can tell me the truth. I'd prefer that over this stupid lie you're trying to give me." She spoke, though not with a bitter tone, no, it was more heartbroken, dejected.
He realised that Eurydice could never be angry at him, she could only ever be hurt.
"..Listen, I think it's better if you... if you don't talk to me anymore."
Eurydice's eyes glanced between his, empty irises contrasting her clear sadness.
"Why? What did I do?"
Regulus scoffed, of course she would think it was her that had done something bad.
"Reggie, what did I do? What did I do to make you like... this?"
He did not reply.
"Please, Reggie, please tell me what I did wrong, so I can apologise, an-and make this all right-"
"You didn't do anything!"
The boy snapped, a tear escaping the dam he had built for his emotions as Regulus stared into Eurydice's eyes.
"Then why are you avoiding me?!"
Without another word, Regulus pulled up his right sleeve on his arm, and she looked down. Eurydice stared at the black ink twirling around, a skull with a snake slithering above it, the snake hissing at her menacingly.
She understood it all at that point. Why Regulus acted the way he did the past couple of weeks.
He was afraid.
"A Christmas gift from my dear cousin." He spat, another tear trailing down his cold cheeks as he shoved the sleeve down, not even looking at his arm in shame.
Silence fell between the two, Eurydice staring at him in shock whilst the boy in front of her began to shatter.
"I-I didn't want it. I really didn't want it, b-but I had no choice. It was either this or..." Regulus did not finish his sentence; he didn't need to. Eurydice knew what the Black family was like. She knew what they would do if their perfect, only son had rejected the mark.
He crumbled into tears, wiping them away with such harsh force.
"I hate it. I didn't want it." He mumbled to himself.
"I don't want it!" He pulled his hair and let himself succumb to tears that had built up ever since Christmas day.
Regulus was in shadows, had spent his whole life in darkness and coldness. He was utterly alone.
Then she placed her hands on his wrists, warmth seeping into him with her delicate touch, and he basked in her sunlight.
She gently pulled his hands from his hair and intertwined his fingers in hers, stepping into his space as she gazed at him with such love.
"Just because you have that mark does not mean you are a bad person."
Regulus sniffled, gazing into her eyes as he relaxed.
"B-But you... I can't let them hurt you. It's even more of a risk now that you will-"
"They won't hurt me." Eurydice let one of his hands go and cupped his face.
"I don't want to risk it." Regulus softly murmured, his free hand keeping hers in place.
"You can't live life without risks, Reggie." She smiled.
"Besides, I will risk everything I have if it means I can have you with me." Eurydice truly meant that, Regulus could see it in the way her eyes bored into his, sunlight melting his heart and warming his body as she smiled at him.
"I don't want you to." He protested, but she shook her head.
"I'm afraid you have no say in that. I'm not letting you go."
He sighed, feeling serenity with Eurydice there with him. The girl was his serenity.
He would have done anything to ensure she felt the same way.
Wordlessly, Regulus leaned in, kissing her softly as he held her face in his hands.
If anything, or anyone, harmed Eurydice, Regulus would make them suffer for just as badly as they harmed his sunlight, his sunflower, his angel.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
Apricity lingered in the air, the Sun no longer imprisoned behind a barrier of greedy grey clouds. She flourished, smiled with a shine that nothing else could match but perhaps the glow of heaven, which could be seen at night when angels reflected their light in the black sky, a guide for anyone who begged for it.
Though the winter snow had turned to black mush, and the Christmas season was approaching its end, there remained a cheeriness amongst people, for the Sun appeared more in a sky that was otherwise white and grey, and the Moon hid away, hiding in the darkness of the night. People did not notice his absence, did not worry over the missing glow in the deep blue sky. Nights grew colder, harsher to those who otherwise enjoyed the stars, resulting in people hiding in the warmth, content grins on their faces as the cries of the Moon fell upon deaf ears.
── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The train rattled as chatters of students only drew into a crescendo, excitement and giddiness establishing control over their brains and lips. It was quieter where older students sat, who had grown accustomed to that feeling of returning to their second home, who still felt just as excited and giddy as younger students felt, but rather they chose to contain it.
However, Eurydice could not contain her excitement, her lips stretching into a lucent smile, her eyes mimicking the shine of the Sun hitting against the river's waves. Her gaze remained on the window, watching as the train chugged closer to Hogwarts.
Her mind raced with the thoughts of him, of seeing him again, talking to him again. Kissing him again. She had developed an addiction to the thought of his lips, dreaming of the day when she could kiss him over and over again.
Meanwhile, Sirius had been staring at her like she was the reason his lungs drew in air, why his heart pumped blood around his body, why his brain controlled his body.
He admired her lips, how they curved in a beautiful way. He admired her eyes, how they crinkled in the corner with the force of her smile.
He wished he could gain insight into her mind.
Although perhaps it was a good thing that he couldn't read her mind. Afterall, if he knew how much she thought of his brother, his heart would have frozen, essentially making the boy a living corpse.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It was after dinner, when children had stuffed their mouths with the various plates filled to the brim with delicious food, that Eurydice waited in the library for Regulus.
She had arrived quite early, earlier than usual, as to not make him wait for too long.
He had not arrived, not at his usual time, but the girl remained oblivious, no ugly thoughts plaguing her mind as she glanced at the door every minute or so, barely reading her book.
The clock's hand had moved faster, Eurydice believed. It read half 12, half an hour after midnight. That could not have been true; Regulus was always at the library by 9pm.
Perplexed at the fast-moving clock, she checked every other clock in the library. They all pointed to half 12 too. Perhaps the library clocks had been frozen over the holiday. The girl took it upon herself to exit the library momentarily to check the clock outside, hanging on the wall just opposite the library door. That had read half 12 too.
But it couldn't have been half 12. Regulus would have been there by that time. Regulus was always there by that time. Regulus couldn't have avoided her. He wanted to be with her. He enjoyed her presence. He would have never avoided her.
He wouldn't. He wouldn't. He wouldn't.
Eurydice walked back into the library and told herself to wait just one more hour. Perhaps Regulus had forgotten the time and would realise at any minute. He would rush down to the library and open the doors quickly, flinching as he always did when they shut loudly, and he would explain to her why he was so late whilst he took his place opposite her, holding a book that he never read, not in her presence.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It was 4am when she had woken up, lifting her head up from the table as her eyes adjusted to the room around her.
She was still in the library; she must have fallen asleep whilst waiting for the boy.
She glanced around once more, and again, and again.
Regulus was not there.
Regulus did not come.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Just before teachers woke up, Eurydice rushed back to her common room and laid in her bed as if she had been there all night.
She smiled to herself, there was no reason to be disappointed. Perhaps Regulus needed to sleep, so he could stay up with her the next night in the library. Perhaps he was catching up with friends, laughing about how ridiculous families could be over Christmas.
He wouldn't avoid her. He couldn't do that. Not her Reggie.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Eurydice went through the day as normal, participating in her lessons with enthusiasm whilst her teachers grinned and praised her. How clever she truly was!
Potions was her last lesson, shared with the Slytherins. Shared with Regulus.
She knew, of course, she could not talk to him, hence if Sirius discovered their conversation and acted out in defiance. Yet, Eurydice still felt a warmth inside her heart, a lingering piece of knowledge that she would see him, and he would see her. Perhaps he would pull her aside after the lesson and explained what had happened to him the previous night. She didn't need his apologies, she thought. He didn't need to apologise for anything. He could never do something atrocious in her eyes.
She sat at the front of the class, Lily by her side writing down the date in a neat manner with her quill.
Regulus walked into the classroom; his face tilted downwards as he passed her desk.
She did not expect him to say hello, or nod, or even acknowledge her with a glance, so she supposed she had no right to feel slightly dismayed as he pretended she was not there.
The lesson had passed by in a blur, the girl unable to concentrate, knowing that the boy who she possessed such strong feelings for, the boy who she had shared kisses with, was sitting only to her right, a row behind her.
Everyone piled out when Slughorn dismissed the class, including Eurydice, who had rushed out the class and made quick conversation with Lily before the red-haired girl left to go visit Marlene and Dorcas.
Eurydice lingered by the classroom, waiting for Regulus to walk out last, as he always did, so he could smile softly at her and discuss why he did not come to the library.
She grinned brightly when he stepped out, his books held carefully in his hands.
She waited for him to stop by her, to talk to her freely. There was nobody left in the corridor but her and him, so they had the privacy to carry out a discussion, not having to stress over anyone catching them.
He walked past her without uttering a word, without even looking at her, and continued down the corridor, turning left towards the stairs, leaving her there with an empty smile at his empty presence.
But Regulus was not avoiding her. He was not. He...
He was.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊
Sunlight peeked through clouds of soft pure white, as if she grew timid overnight, losing confidence without her love, without her Moon. Blue slipped through the cracks of the white barriers whilst snowflakes twirled elegantly until they fell into their home of white snow that almost mirrored the sky.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It was the very last day before the Christmas break, a long term well spent for some students, a long term wasted for most. Some woke up with wide smiles on their faces whilst other woke up with frowns, not wanting to leave their second home that they had grown so accustomed to.
Eurydice did not care about any of that. In fact, she had initially forgotten it was the last day when she had first woken up from her three hours of sleep.
All she had been thinking about was the boy. The boy she had thought was intimidating. The boy who she had thought was judgemental. The boy who she had thought was like the rest of his family.
The boy who she had never fathomed to think she would kiss.
She felt something heavy in her heart, a flurry of wings and the fast drumbeat. She didn't know what she felt. All she knew was that she did not regret the previous night. She did not regret how her lips fell perfectly between his like a puzzle. She did not regret how she smiled whilst his hands held her waist. She did not regret the laughter she let out when they had pulled apart, the boy joining in with her laughter of happiness and peace.
She only regretted being friends with the boy's brother.
Sirius.
The name hung onto her heart like an anvil, and her soft smile had dropped from her face.
But her brain merely whispered the name of the boy who she had kissed, and the anvil slipped away, no longer a heavy strain.
Regulus Black.
Her Reggie.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Big yellow and black eyes watched her every movement as Eurydice packed away all her things in her suitcase, waiting for the girl's attention.
Her pet owl, Talia, with fur as white as the snow falling from the sky, stood by the window whilst the girl hummed a tune, a heavenly sound quite similar to the sound of raindrops trinkling on windows.
Once Eurydice was finally done with all her packing and zipped up her suitcase, she walked over to her owl and smiled whilst stroking the owl's head softly with one finger.
"Be safe." She softly murmured before opening the window and watching as Talia flew away, knowing that she will see her at her home in a week or less, but would miss her.
"You act as if you're never going to see her again." Lily mused, stood by the doorway.
Eurydice turned around with a sigh, placing her cloak over her shoulders and clasping it.
"I'm just going to miss her. I love my little Talia." Eurydice frowned, not noticing Lily's soft expression of adoration.
"I know, I know. But you don't miss me nearly as much as you miss that owl whenever we're off for Christmas."
Eurydice gasped in fake offence. "Yes I do!"
"Mhm, sure you do."
Lily grinned when Eurydice shook her head, as if she was deeply hurt by Lily's jokes.
"If I don't miss you, why do I write you a letter every week?"
"Yeah, one letter per week. James sends me two letters every day." Lily rolled her eyes whilst Eurydice giggled.
"That's because he's in love with you."
"He is not!" The girl turned beetroot red, a slight smile on her face whilst she avoided eye contact with Eurydice's knowing and teasing glance.
"He so is! He looks at you like you're a goddess and he follows you around like a puppy."
Eurydice gave Lily a pair of gloves she noticed that the girl had forgotten to pack.
"That boy would do anything you would ask of him."
Lily's face flushed an even deeper red whilst she stood up and walked towards the doorway.
"Yeah, whatever." She muttered, her tone with slight annoyance but her face the picture of reciprocated love.
"...Lily?" Eurydice uttered out before the girl could leave.
"Yeah?"
She turned around with an expectant look on her face, soft and patiently waiting whilst Eurydice tried to find the words.
She didn't know if she could tell her. She didn't know if she should say that she kissed the brother she should not have kissed, or even talked to in the first place. She didn't know if she could tell her how freeing it felt to have him in her arms, to touch him, to laugh with him, to gaze at him. She didn't know if she could tell her that she was falling dangerously in love.
"..What is it?" Lily's expression turned confused as another minute of silence passed between them.
"..Nothing. It's nothing."
Instead of pressing further and asking questions, Lily decided not to give in to her curiosity and she simply nodded, walking out of the dorm room leaving Eurydice to her racing mind.
It was not nothing.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Brown leaves fell on the cobbled floor beside her feet, the only sound in the room was the snips and cuts of the plants that needed tending to before the Christmas break.
The two girls were in peaceful silence, a comfortable silence as Pandora watered some plants whilst Eurydice cut dead leaves off.
She could trust Pandora, Eurydice thought. Of course, she trusted her. Pandora would not tell a soul about what had happened. She was not like that. She stuck to her promises, she promised that any secret revealed to her would go with her to the grave. She was reliable, loyal. Lily was, yes, of course she was. But her loyalty sometimes took place in honesty, and Pandora, as honest and pure as she was, also knew that loyalty sometimes meant to lie.
"Pandora?"
"Yes?" She hummed in answer, not taking her eyes off the plant she was watering.
"I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise to not tell anyone else."
"Of course." That was all she needed to say, Eurydice knew that she would keep that promise sealed.
"..Do you know Regulus Black?"
"Oh, yes, we often work together in Herbology. He's very quiet, but very nice. Why do you ask?"
Eurydice sighed.
"Because we kissed."
Pandora stopped watering the flower, lifting up the watering can along with her gaze, which was now on the window in front of her.
"Oh."
She turned towards Eurydice with a curious gaze.
"I thought you were friends with Sirius Black?"
"I am."
Another moment of silence fell upon them before Pandora decided to speak again.
"Well that's not very good."
Eurydice groaned, plopping down onto a wooden stool whilst covering her face with her hands.
"I know! I know that we shouldn't have kissed, and I know that everything will get messy, but Godric, it was a very good kiss!"
Pandora hummed, nodding whilst she sat beside Eurydice.
"Do you have feelings for him?"
Eurydice uncovered her face, looking at the girl with a frown yet also with soft eyes, eyes that told her everything she needed to know without her mouth opening.
"Yes, I do. I really, really do."
"Then that's all that matters. Not Sirius Black, not the messiness but your feelings. And his."
Pandora pursed her lips, debating inside her head whether to tell the girl her thoughts.
She decided to do so.
"..And I believe he has such strong feelings for you too."
"Well, how do you know?" Eurydice asked.
"When he looks at you, he smiles. And I've never seen him smile before. Not like that."
Eurydice smiled softly, looking in Pandora's eyes for a hint of lying, perhaps over-exaggeration. She could not find anything but honesty.
"Thanks, Pandora."
The girl reciprocated her smile and nodded in acknowledgement to her gratitude, and stood up once again, walking over to the flowers to finish watering them.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Crowds of students shoved their way into the train, the cacophony of yelling and kicking deafening Eurydice's ears as she waited for everyone to get on the train so she could get on without a worry, knowing that her friends were saving her seat.
Sirius had offered to wait beside her, to which the girl refused despite his persistency. Sirius still managed to walk away with her suitcase so she would not have the trouble of carrying it, being a true gentleman only for her.
Her eyes scanned amongst the various Slytherin students, attempting to find luscious waves of raven black. But she could not find him, and she began to grow disappointed; her aim to say goodbye to Regulus before going home for three weeks slowly drifting away.
Then eyes of blue ocean waves landed on hers, and hope was restored.
He smiled, only slightly, but remembering what Pandora had told her, Eurydice was grateful for the beautiful smile and welcomed it with her own.
His head cocked to the side, gesturing for her to go with him behind the small shop, and she went, no hesitation or thought present in her mind.
He followed after her, checking behind him to see if anyone had caught their slight interaction. Thankfully, everyone was still quite occupied with getting onto the train and finding a seat.
Before Regulus could utter out a single word, her arms were thrown around him, knocking him off balance but restoring it quickly, his arms then wrapping around her waist.
"Sorry, I'm just happy to see you." Eurydice grinned brightly as she pulled away from the short embrace.
"I-It's alright, in fact it's more than alright." He smiled softly.
The two had gazed at each other as if they had not seen each other for months, when in truth, it was 8 hours.
"I actually just wanted to say that... that you should not expect me to write you."
Eurydice's bright smile faltered, confusion and slight devastation plastered onto her usually bright face.
"W-What?"
"Wait, no, I meant..."
Regulus sighed, looking down at the concrete floor beneath his feet.
"I meant that I cannot write you. Only because if my family found out I was writing to a..."
"A Mudblood." Eurydice muttered, insecurity covering her face.
"No, you're not that. But... but my parents wouldn't see you the same way I do."
Eurydice nodded, staring at the floor and willing herself to not cry.
"..Do you regret it?" He asked.
She looked up at him with glassy eyes.
"Last night?"
Eurydice sighed, avoiding his deep gaze, his vulnerability.
"No. Of course not."
She was telling the utmost truth. Regulus knew that.
"Do you?" She asked.
Silence fell upon them for a second, which felt like a minute, before Regulus answered.
"No. I could never regret you."
Her smile returned once again, making the boy in front of her smile.
A teacher yelled for all students to be on the train, some doors began shutting yet that did not stop Eurydice from placing a soft peck on Regulus' lips.
The boy had blushed, despite having kissed much more passionately the previous night, and grinned, taking a deep breath as he prepared to depart himself from the intoxication of the girl in front of him.
He let her walk away first, watching as she turned back and smiled widely at him, a risky move but he knew that nobody saw, and if anyone did see, he was not afraid of a little blackmailing.
Regulus waited until she was on the train, walking to the compartment where her friends were making noise and creating chaos, sweets thrown across the floor as James obnoxiously sung Christmas songs, Sirius joining in whilst Remus and Lily had covered their ears, Dorcas, Mary and Marlene sitting across them in a different compartment and watching with amusement and annoyance.
Sirius had moved his bag off Eurydice's reserved spot, grinning as Eurydice sat down next to him.
She could not see his smile however, she could only ever see his smile, the smile that replayed over and over in her head.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The Sun did hide away slightly that day, not because she grew timid overnight, but because she couldn't bear to watch a story she knew all too well.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓
The blanket that was stretched across the land became heavy pillows that overlapped with other pillows, the soft white snow thick enough for one to sink into and never be found. Yet the Sun still smiled brightly in the sky, albeit only smiling shortly before her lover, the Moon, would take her place in the sky and remain for hours, not smiling brightly but nonetheless still luminously glowing in darkness, providing a comfort for midnight travellers.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Christmas was just a few days away, and the last day of school was even closer, just a day away when students were roaming the halls in clothes that parents had sent as an early Christmas gift, insisting that they wait to wear it after Christmas (but of course, they chose to ignore that instruction). Teachers did not yell or shout as often as they did beforehand, rather choosing to ignore student's misbehaviours and instead dream about the day they could wake up at whatever time they liked and not even glance at a piece of work.
It was Saturday, an hour before the anticipated Slug Club's party, and Eurydice was glancing between her two dresses, options for the party. One dress was long and flowy blue, a midnight colour in the sky that shone like the blue in the sea, and the other dress was golden, a reflection of a candlelight that shone in a room of gold coins and gold stars. Both beautiful dresses, both difficult not to choose.
Eurydice pursed her lips, holding up the blue one and placing it against her body. She turned to the mirror and stared at her reflection, spinning around to see how the dress moved. It spun like waves, blue and white flowing. She placed it down on her bed and picked up the golden one, shorter but more delicate. She held it against her body and gazed into the mirror. She spun around, golden and yellow mimicking the glow of the Sun. Eurydice sighed; she was no clearer in her decision.
She had placed the dress down when Lily and Marlene had walked in, Lily wearing a simple but elegant green dress that complimented her eyes, her red hair curled in waves with white sparkles decorating her eyes and glossy red decorating her lips.
"Merlin's beard, you look beautiful, Lily." Eurydice gasped as she walked in, Lily smiling whilst she blushed in embarrassment.
"The work of yours truly." Marlene grinned, laughing when Lily had rolled her eyes.
"What are you going to wear?" Lily asked, walking over to where Eurydice stood opposite the two dresses on her bed.
"I don't know, it's between these dresses but I love them both equally, so I have no idea."
Marlene hummed, standing by the other side of Eurydice as the three girls gazed at the dress, all three picturing which one would truly illuminate Eurydice's beauty.
"I think the golden one." Marlene held up the golden dress, placing against Eurydice.
"Yep, the golden dress." Lily confirmed where Eurydice turned around with the dress against her.
"Thank you." Eurydice smiled, walking over to the bathroom to get changed whilst Lily had placed the blue dress back in Eurydice's trunk, folding it up neatly and carefully so it did not crease.
"So I heard that Sirius is your date?" Marlene called through the door, grinning whilst Lily had giggled.
"'Date' is an exaggeration," Eurydice called back. "I'm only taking him so I have someone to dance with while Lily and James dance."
"Still can't believe you made me say yes to that bozo." Lily muttered, crossing her arms whilst Marlene rolled her eyes.
"Well, you might want to tell him that because Sirius has been so annoying about this for the past week, non-stop talking about how excited he is to 'dance the night away with you' and 'make you laugh all night'."
Eurydice gasped, sticking her head out of the wooden door.
"You're joking."
The other two girls shook their heads, smirking as Eurydice sighed and closed the door once more.
"I'm sure that you're taking that in the wrong way." She argued.
"How could we be taking it the wrong way; everyone knows that boy is head over heels for you." Lily claimed, rolling her eyes when Eurydice scoffed.
"He is not!"
"Is too!" Marlene argued back.
"Then why does he go around with other girls?"
"Because he's still Sirius Black, that's like asking why cows moo." Marlene joked.
Eurydice stepped out of the bathroom, opening the door slowly whilst the two other girls dropped open their jaws in amazement. She had looked like a goddess, no longer an angel from heavens but rather a daughter of Aphrodite. Golden swirls decorated her waist and sparkles of heavenly white shone like the light above them, making it appear as though Eurydice had been sculpted by the very hands of the angels.
"Wow, Eurydice. You look beautiful." Lily exclaimed.
"Yeah, Sirius is one lucky fella." Marlene smiled, walking over to where Eurydice stood by the bathroom door, taking her soft hands into hers.
"Could I do the honours of doing your hair and makeup?" Marlene asked politely, Eurydice replicating her soft smile and nodding in return.
Marlene squealed in excitement, taking the girl over to the floor length mirror with a red pouf in front of it. She had taken out a brush and few hair pins, along with a clear lip gloss, soft pink blush and sparkly white eyeshadow. Marlene already had a face of pure concentration, glancing at Eurydice's face and planning the look in her brain, rather impressively.
"I hope you're ready to stay perfectly still for the next 45 minutes." Lily joked to Eurydice, who giggled in response.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Chatter, laughter, and whispers rung through the door as Sirius Black and James Potter lounged on the long, red couches just in front of the fireplace, red and orange embers swirling around like a ballroom dance of warmth.
The boy with the shoulder-length black hair sat hunched open, his hands spread on his thighs as his left leg tapped the floor rhythmically, his bottom lip bitten into by his teeth as his brown eyes glanced at the clock atop the coffee table every minute or so.
James watched his anxious friend in amusement, the complete opposite picture of Sirius as he laid across the couch, his slacks-covered feet behind Sirius' back, his head resting against the yellow cushion whilst his glasses slid down his nose ever so slightly.
"She's not giving birth, you know." James murmured, Sirius' head lifting towards his friend with perplexed eyes.
"Sorry?"
"Eurydice. She's not giving birth. You're acting like a stressed-out husband outside the delivery room waiting for his wife to give birth." He joked, Sirius scoffing as he laid back, not before shoving James' feet away and onto the floor.
"How are you not bricking it?"
"What, like you?"
Sirius nodded quickly, a nervous frown on his face.
James shrugged.
"I dunno, guess I'm just confident in my romancing abilities." The boy sighed, grinning smugly.
"Ah. So why aren't you and Lily together yet?"
James' smile dropped slowly, turning to his friend with a finger raised and his mouth open, but he could not find the words to answer his friend's question.
The door opened, creaky noises stopping the conversation between the two boys as they heard two pairs of footsteps come down the spiral staircase, slowly and elegantly striding along the stairs as the boys stood up from their position on the couches and turned to face the stairs.
Sirius could not describe what she looked like. He could not compare her to anything, not even to a summer's day where the wind is cool and the flowers are blossoming, not even to an autumn evening where the Sun is sliding down into a bed of clouds, leaving an imprint of orange and pink. No words in any language could describe the beauty that was Eurydice Solis, and Sirius tried, he tried desperately to come up with a word, any word, that could describe her. Alas, he failed.
"Godric, you look..." James began, his blue eyes only focused on the red-haired girl stood in front of him with a smile on her face.
"Stunning? Breath-taking? Beautiful?" Lily filled in the gaps, stepping forward to close the large gap placed between her and James.
"Yes." He answered, smiling widely when Lily's cheeks turned that slight red colour he was seeing more and more often.
They had left, Lily's hand placed on James' arm as they walked side by side, the two of them trying their hardest not to blush profusely as they left the common room.
But there they stood.
For the two minutes Eurydice had stepped down the stairs, Sirius had not said a word.
"..Hello." The girl waved awkwardly, unsure whether to take Sirius' staring as a positive sign.
"H-Hi." He uttered out, gulping as he stepped forward.
"You look..."
Eurydice smiled, and the stars collectively appeared right in front of him.
"I'm hoping you think I look good." She joked, the boy chuckling in front of her whilst shaking his head.
"The word 'good' does not even begin to describe how you look. I don't think any word can."
She tilted her head down, avoiding eye contact with eyes that told her things she did not want to know.
"Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself."
Sirius grinned and nodded in agreement.
"I know."
She laughed, Sirius joining in with her infectious and melodic laughter before offering his arm. Eurydice took it, smiling gratefully as he walked her out of the common room, walking in the direction of the smaller hall just below the common room.
They walked in silence, a silence that felt fine, not comfortable yet not uncomfortable, not safe yet unsafe. It was a silence between friends that hoped the other felt the same feelings towards their friendship.
It was just after nine o'clock at night, when everybody had already arrived. Most were stood by the tables of food and drinks, some were leaning against the pillars that separated the outside from the inside and others were attempting to sneak a third glass of champagne, wary eyes assessing the room for Professors.
Lily and James had been chatting by a table, two glasses of champagne resting against the white cloth as Lily gazed into the eyes that she told herself not to look at, whilst James stared at the two freckles just below her lips.
Sirius had saw them, and rushed towards them, dragging Eurydice with him as she was distracted by a pair of cold, yet familiar and safe eyes.
Regulus' eyes caught hers the moment she entered the room.
They had sat down, Sirius patting James' shoulders whilst Lily smiled at Eurydice, who reciprocated the action, but her eyes could not look at hers, her eyes could not tear themselves away from his.
Music played loudly amidst loud conversations of students and teachers, everyone yelling to be heard.
Yet nothing was as loud as his eyes staring into hers.
"I'm going to get us a drink, okay?" Sirius turned towards Eurydice, who finally looked away from eyes that belonged to his brother and nodded, silently willing her heart to calm down.
James accompanied him, the pair strolling away as they grinned and laughed in hushed tones.
Lily had attempted to maintain conversation with her friend, but she was distracted. Lily did not know by what, or who, she was distracted, but she knew best than to attempt to break through; nothing could take Eurydice's eyes away from whatever she found mesmerizingly beautiful.
Sirius had returned with one champagne and one glass of water, gifting the champagne to Eurydice who had thanked him.
"Wow, Sirius Black drinking water?" Lily mused, lifting her own glass of champagne to her lips.
"Uh, of course. You know me and water, Evans." Sirius smirked, taking a small sip of his drink.
"Yeah, Sirius and 'water'." James air quoted, bursting out in laughter when Sirius had smacked the side of his arm, telling him to keep quiet as the two grinned and chuckled, Lily rolling her eyes.
He had leaned back in his chair, ignoring the oblivious Slytherin boy who had not stopped talking for five minutes as he continued to gaze at her with eyes that had a midst of fog, hiding any emotions from the surface. Eurydice yearned to clear away the fog, she dreamt of sitting next to the raven-haired boy and share a silence that wasn't really silent, no words exchanged yet words did not need to be exchanged.
"Eurydice?"
Sirius' voice had snapped her focus back into him, had stolen her gaze away from him.
"Would you like to dance?" He asked with that charismatic smug grin on his face that was hard to reject, so she nodded, and they stood together, Sirius placing a guiding hand on her back, high up to be respectable and friendly.
He had wrapped his hands around her waist when they stood in the centre of the dancefloor, very few other couples dancing slowly, all believing that they were the only people in that room.
Eurydice placed her hands on the back of his neck, her fingers touched with the softness of Sirius' hair as they began to sway, a slight smile on his face as he stared at her beauty, her seraphic beauty.
She grinned, giggling ever so slightly when he spun her around, a large smile on his face as she spun back into his arms, his warmth.
It was welcoming, full of enjoyment for a moment, when their eyes connected and they both smiled brighter, the light from the candles glistening in their eyes as they swayed, compelled into a movement that could have entrapped them forever, the addicting steps, the familiarity of it all.
Sirius was safe, he was the warm air flowing through trees, he was the leaves dissolving into the soil and sprouting into flowers of various colours, he was the bees' song in the summer, he was perfect.
Eurydice rested her head on his chest, his body's warmth enveloping her like a firm hug. She closed her eyes, relaxing into him for a moment.
Just for a moment.
She opened her eyes, only to see the brother who she should have never talked to storm out the room.
Without hesitation, she pushed herself away from Sirius and walked after Regulus, ignoring the concerned calls of the boy who believed he was on the brink of true love.
Regulus was out of sight, seemingly in a hurry to leave the room and go as far away as his legs could take him.
Eurydice knew him well, regretfully well, and ran to where she knew he would be.
The Astronomy tower was empty, no Prefects lurked around, no Professors wandering. Even if there were, Eurydice did not care. She would have wrestled out of the grasp of either Prefect or Professor if it meant she could see him.
She climbed up the stairs that led to the very top of the tower, where the cold, winter midnight air bit cruelly at human skin, but she did not feel the cold, she could not feel anything but pure worry and guilt. Why did she feel guilty? Why did she have a dramatic pounding in her heart that dropped to her stomach?
Eurydice reached the top, freezing in her place where she stood by the stairs when she saw him.
His wavy black hair brushed against the breeze as his knuckles turned white with how strong they were holding the banister, his head turned towards the ground far below them.
"Regulus? Are... are you alright?" She took a tentative step towards him, only one step yet everything felt like Eurydice was crushed to the ground.
He did not answer, rather he chose to ignore the question, to act as if she was not there, standing behind him with such concern in the eyes that held the Sun.
"Regulus?" Eurydice called out once again, taking another step towards him.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore." He muttered; a whisper that would not have been heard had Eurydice not been straining her ears.
"W-What?"
"I don't want to talk to you anymore." Regulus said firmly, still not moving from where his hands had a firm grasp on the banister in front of him.
"..Why?"
The boy scoffed, a scowl on his face as he finally turned around and dropped his hands to his sides.
"Why? I'll tell you why," He stepped towards the girl with such anger, such agitation on his face. Yet his eyes were unreadable.
"You're in love with my brother."
Eurydice became confused, puzzled as to where Regulus had heard that piece of false information from.
"What?"
"You love my brother. You love him."
For a moment he frowned, and his ocean eyes turned deflated with the waves inside them crashing against the shore with such a force. For a split second, he seemed broken, depressed.
Then his eyes, seemingly as if his brain reminded them to return their stony gaze, became unreadable once more, and Eurydice did not know what to do, what to say to the boy in front of her.
"And quite frankly, I don't want to be friends with someone who loves the person I hate."
"But Regulus I don't—"
"But the thing I hate the most," He interrupted Eurydice, lost in his own mind as he gazed at everything else but her.
"I hate that I couldn't stop thinking about you dancing with me instead of him."
Blue eyes froze from their ice exterior, turning glassy with millions of emotions cracking the surface.
"I hate that I wanted to be the one to make you laugh, not him. I want to be the one to make you smile and dance and... and do everything that the world has to offer with me. Not him. Not Sirius."
Regulus finally looked at her, his eyes suddenly turning cold with frustration.
"I curse you. I curse you for making me feel this way. For making me feel... whatever this is."
The boy sniffed, turning away towards the staircase.
"That's why I don't want to talk to you anymore." He mumbled, before walking in such a fast pace away, his hands formed into strong fists as his head turned downwards.
"I-I don't love Sirius!" Eurydice exclaimed, finally speaking after a moment in frozen silence.
Regulus froze, turning around to face her. He saw the desperation on her face, the confusion in her furrowed eyebrows, and the utter love and fear in her eyes.
"Y-You don't?"
She shook her head ardently.
"I don't have any feelings for him." She walked towards him, slowly, gently, as though to not scare him away. Nothing could have scared him away from the girl, the Sun, in that moment.
"I-I have feelings for..." She sighed, only an inch separating them.
He could feel the warmth from her hands that were itching to hold his.
"I have feelings for you."
The Moon paused in his orbit around the earth, the Sun awoke from her slumber, the stars became brighter with a glow from a mysterious place.
Birds stopped chirping, trees stopped dancing with the wind, snow stopped falling from the sky in a delicate and elegant manner.
He stopped breathing.
"W-Why?" Regulus whispered.
Eurydice chuckled as if the very question was ridiculous. To her, it was ridiculous. There was not just one reason why she possessed feelings for the boy. The reasons had everything to do with the way his voice turned soft when talking to her, the way his eyes shone brighter like the very constellation he was named after, the way he read books that no one would ever choose to read, the way he made her feel every time he was in the same room as her; serenity.
"Because you're you. Wonderful, amazing you."
Regulus gulped, the girl taking his cold hands into hers, soft fingers brushing through his, as she became just a breath away from him.
"You can't do this."
She frowned, backing away an only an inch but nonetheless the inch that Regulus desperately wanted to cross.
"Why not?"
"I'll..."
His eyes turned melancholy once again, Eurydice's hand reaching up to cup his face without hesitation. Regulus did not do or say anything to reject it.
"I'll destroy you."
She smiled softly. "No, you won't. You'll complete me."
Without another word uttered, she leaned closer to him, their lips a width away. But she was not going to move first, no, she would wait for him to finally cross that barrier and succumb to feelings that had been haunting him ever since the day he first talked to her.
A second had passed, thought it had felt like an hour, when his lips had touched hers, a gentle brush that instantly melted away the coldness inside of him.
Regulus leaned away, before kissing her with such love and such care, his hand moving to cup the back of her head whilst his other hand place itself on her waist.
His kiss grew in fervour and passion; Eurydice felt a tear roll down her cheek, but it was not from sadness, it was from love, love that she could finally show, not dream of in sleep whilst the Moon watched her.
Her hands gripped his shoulders, as though to hold onto something whilst Regulus took every last remnant of her breath away.
"Eurydice?" A familiar voice called out from below them, and they snapped away, Regulus' eyes going wide in a moment of panic before gaining his sense once again, guiding Eurydice to the hatch in the floor and following her inside just before the footsteps had started walking above them.
The two were panting, attempting to catch their breath from the kiss. However, they took one glance at each other, Regulus smiling widely as if his prayers had been answered and he kissed her once again.
"Eurydice?" The voice called out again, but it was muffled through the floor, neither Regulus nor Eurydice caring about anything else in that moment, wrapped up in a kiss that could never compare to anything from their dreams.
In the sky, the Moon's glow dimmed ever so slightly, the stars replicating his action, as grey clouds drew over the black canvas. The Moon frowned, feeling pity for Sirius Black who was calling the girl's name out of concern, but mostly frowning because of them. Because of Regulus and Eurydice.
Because he knew how their story would end.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
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𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖊𝖓
Pulchra tragoedia. Beautiful tragedy. This is another significant phrase in the Latin language. Despite the contradictory nature of the phrase, it is clear in its message - in events such as heartbreak, there is a beauty that is memorable. The beauty that is the pain one feels deep in their chest. The beauty that is the tears that flow down one's cheeks. It possesses such beauty because it is a memory that shapes us, a touch that is imprinted onto our skin, a sentence that sings in our mind, a face that haunts our dreams.
Despite it being a tragedy, it is beautiful in the sense that it makes us feel, makes us human.
Pulchra tragoedia. We all had someone in our lifetime that is our pulchra tragoedia. If you haven't, you will. That is another reason why it is beautiful, because it is universal.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
His eyes drifted over each word, his hand holding open the thick book with the page that has been opened for 10 minutes. Regulus was distracted. He hated being distracted, usually. Yet his mind was distracted with the thought of the Sun, and he did not hate it. Rather, he revelled in it, willingly letting thoughts of hope and something warm carry him into a whirlwind of dreams and visions for what his future could be.
Freshly cut roses, old books, and honey.
The smell remained in his heart even days after that Potions lesson, yet it has been days since he had seen the very girl who caused all his thoughts and feelings, his horrible, ridiculous, lovely feelings. In truth, he had been avoiding her, terrified that if he caught a glimpse of her heavenly face, he would succumb to whatever his heart had been experiencing. But he yearned to see her, a very loud part of his brain begging for his legs to take him to her, so that his eyes could be once again blessed the sight of an angel.
He scoffed at the very thought, how pathetic he had turned for a girl who loved the things he despised. But did he despise them? Did he despise love stories, or did he convince himself of his hatred for them? Did he hate snow, or did he miss the accomplishment of building a snowman too much he had to grow cold in his heart?
Regulus stood up from his desk chair in his common room and placed his book down in his bookshelf. He had become quite annoyed at his complicated thoughts, so he decided to himself to go to the music room, where nobody ever really went unless it was for a secret, midnight gathering or practice for ball room dancing (just in case the opportunity ever arose).
It was just after supper, when majority of students had been in their common rooms, with only a few lingering in the halls, having quiet discussions about classwork, their other friends or sport. Regulus kept his head down as he walked, hearing whispers about his family and his brother. His pathetic, selfish brother.
The double wooden doors of the music room came into view, and the boy rushed towards it, pushing open the heavy doors and flinching when they closed loudly.
Regulus walked towards the record player, bending down to beneath the table, where two boxes of records rested, the boxes filled to the brim with donations from students and teachers. The boy pulled out his own donation he gave when he was in first year and lifted the record from the case quite delicately.
"There you are!" A familiar voice exclaimed, making Regulus jump slightly and turn around to see the Sun who he had not stopped dreaming of since they had met.
"I've been looking for you everywhere, you haven't been coming to the library lately." Eurydice spoke in a quieter voice, stepping down the small stairs and walking towards where Regulus was stood, who watched her with eyes that threatened to tell her everything.
"I-I've been busy." He uttered out, lying through his teeth.
Eurydice believed him, or so it seemed with the nod of her head, and looked at the record he held in his hands.
"What are you listening to?"
"Jacques Brel." He answered, slightly smiling when the girl in front of him tilted her head.
"He's a French singer, my favourite." Regulus placed the record on the record player and carefully placed the tonearm over the record, static filling the silence through the speakers.
A haunting whistle sound began playing, followed by the delicate pressing of a piano and calming deep voice.
"What song is this?" Eurydice asked, her eyes memorised by the spinning movement of the record.
"Ne me quitte pas." Regulus softly murmured.
"It means 'please don't leave me'."
"Oh, it's a happy song then." Eurydice sarcastically replied, grinning when Regulus chuckled.
"Well, I like to say it is a song full of raw emotion." The boy sat down on the steps a few feet from the door, the girl following him and sitting down beside him, not without leaving many inches between them.
"Right, and what emotions are in this song?"
"..Desperation, hope and perhaps a bit of sadness."
The two laughed quietly amongst themselves, Regulus admiring the way her lips curved and the corner of her eyes crinkled.
After a moment of them listening to the song and appreciating the heavenly sounds of the piano and violin mixed together, Regulus shuffled towards Eurydice.
"There's actually a lyric I love; 'Je creuserai la terre jusqu'apres ma mort pur couvir ton corps'."
"What does it mean?" Eurydice softly asked.
"'I will dig the earth until after my death to cover your body.'"
"And you say that this song isn't sad?" Eurydice joked.
"No, no, I mean the song is sad, but the lyric is just," Regulus paused, looking down at the floor whilst his mind raced for an explanation behind why he liked that particular phrase so much.
"It means that 'even in death, me and the one I love are not parted'."
"Wow. It is beautiful."
Regulus nodded, smiling to himself.
"I remember visiting France with my parents and my brother to see my grandparents," Eurydice gazed at him as he spoke. "Sirius and I were not allowed to go anywhere else but my grandparents' house; we could not play in the river, could not swing in the park," Regulus furrowed his eyebrows, frustration peeking its way through into his words. "But one night, Sirius knocked on my window, from where he climbed the terrace, and asked me to follow him. So I did. He took me to the centre of the town, where we had lollipops and chased each other until we couldn't run anymore. Then we saw this record shop, and Sirius saw Queen in the window, so we walked in. Sirius ran off to find that Queen album but I was listening to the song playing on the radio. I thought it was beautiful, even then when I was 8 years old, so I asked to have that song. Instead of Sirius buying that Queen album he desperately wanted, he bought me this album," Regulus gestured towards the current record still spinning on the record player. "Don't forget, I truly hate my brother. And he truly hates me. But... all of my best memories are of him."
Regulus allowed misery to cloud over his heart, before pushing it away and replacing it with anger.
"I hate him. I hate Sirius. I hate how he was named after the brightest star in the sky and I was named after the second brightest," Regulus clenched his jaw, his eyes fighting the wave of tears.
"Second favourite."
"...Regulus means 'little king'. In Latin."
The boy lifted his gaze up from his eyes and turned towards the girl, the Sun.
"..I didn't know you knew Latin."
"I don't." Eurydice smiled softly.
Regulus reciprocated her smile before turning to fully face her.
"Does your name have a meaning behind it?"
"Um, yes, it does, but it's very sad."
"Why is it sad?"
Eurydice sighed. "Well, my mother was very interested in Greek gods and goddesses. She learnt this story about Orpheus who some say was the son of Apollo, a very powerful God, and Eurydice, a mere mortal. Orpheus and Eurydice fell in love and got married. But shortly after they married, Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. Orpheus was overcome with grief and ventured to the Underworld to bring Eurydice back to life. Hades, the God of the Underworld, saw his grief and allowed Orpheus to bring back Eurydice, with one condition; after leaving the Underworld, Eurydice and Orpheus could not look back. Orpheus and Eurydice climbed up towards the opening of the land of the living, and upon seeing the light of the Sun, Orpheus turned around to share his joy with Eurydice. In that moment she disappeared, and Orpheus spent the rest of his days living in grief."
A moment of silence fell upon them before Regulus broke it.
"Well Orpheus deserved to spend the rest of his life in misery."
Eurydice broke out in laughter, a smile taking over Regulus' face as he joined in with the laughter.
"Well, I'm right! Did he not listen to the very clear instructions? Only someone with no brain can fail to follow such a simple instruction."
"I guess you're right. But he only wanted to celebrate their progress with her." Eurydice's words were still clouded with laughter, making the raven-haired grin wider.
"He could have done so without turning around."
The record stopped spinning and music no longer accompanied their voices, making the two glance towards the record player.
"Why don't you play something?" Regulus suggested, the girl smiled in excitement as she nodded and skipped towards the boxes, flicking through the records until she pulled out a certain one and placed it on the record player, a delicate piano and a quiet feminine voice singing.
Eurydice sung the lyrics, whilst the boy smiled and chuckled at her twirling around.
"What song is this?"
"They Long To Be Close To You. The Carpenters." Eurydice sat back down again; this time one inch closer to Regulus.
"My favourite song."
"Hm, because it's happy?"
Eurydice nodded, smiling brightly whilst Regulus gazed at her, perplexed as to why the Sun would sit close to him, but grateful for her warmth nonetheless.
They listened to songs and had conversations consisting of laughter and smiles that could have competed with the glow of the Moon and the shine of the Sun, until the sky began to turn shades of orange and pink, a golden glow painted over their faces as Regulus stared at her; to him, she was the very definition of gold. The two parted ways yet their songs still played in their heads, their smiles lingered on their faces, the brush of their fingers imprinted onto their hands.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Pulchra tragoedia. A truly beautiful memory and experience to have.
Yet it is still a tragedy.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
may be stating the obvious but brutus by the buttress is so peter pettigrew coded
i mean???????
tell me i’m wrong 😭
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𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊
A white blanket stretched across the lands near Hogwarts, whilst animals burrowed in warmth and flowers slept to regain the colour and vibrancy they had during days of heat and radiation. Rain droplets froze in the clouds and fell as specks of icy beauties, delicate as a bird's wings. Snow glistened in the night, mimicking the shine of the stars, but alas the snow could not compete with the luminous glow of Moondust, could not even begin to match it.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
As the nights grew longer, and the days shorter, students of Hogwarts anticipated their return to their beloved homes, dreamt about hugging their families, salivated at the taste of their grandmother's secret recipes but most of all, they could not wait to unwrap perfectly wrapped presents and revel in whatever they had been gifted.
Eurydice personally could not wait to return home and see her father, who had been quite busy with painting, claiming in his letters that painting was truly a peaceful and rewarding activity. He had promised Eurydice a painting as beautiful as her smile, though the girl had grinned and shook her head, her father, ever the poet and dreamer. She admired that about him, had hoped that she would possess just a sliver of her father's idealist nature.
It was just 2 weeks before the winter term would finish and the Christmas holiday would begin, and Professor Slughorn was chatting quite animatedly to a group of students, who slouched in their chairs and silently begged for the man to leave them be. Eurydice had walked in with Lily, the two girls talking about the antics of James Potter and how foolish he was in his attempts to profess his love for the red-haired girl (though both Eurydice and Lily thought it was quite romantic).
"Ah! Miss Solis, do you mind if I borrow you for a second?" Professor Slughorn had gone back to his own desk, the group of students he was talking to were smiling and laughing in the absence of his presence.
Eurydice nodded, bidding a quick goodbye to her friend before making her way over to the man.
"Yes Professor?" The girl asked politely.
"I just wanted to tell you how wonderful you're doing in my class, though I have no doubt you don't know that yourself." Slughorn grinned, making Eurydice blush in embarrassment and shrug whilst the Professor chuckled at her modesty.
"In fact, you have been doing so wonderfully that I would like to formally invite you into my club, the Slug's Club, as I've heard some students call it."
The Slug's Club was for students who, like Eurydice, had performed excellently in Potions with Professor Slughorn. Whilst it had garnered up a reputation that led other students to believe it mainly consisted of Slughorn's pets, the club had many benefits, like dinners with delightful food, dances where the girls would gossip and giggle about their crushes whilst the boys would groan in discomfort regarding their tight collars digging into their throats. Most of all, the Slug's Club had access to previous Potions examinations, which was envied amongst other students as it meant the club could see the right answers and the wrong answers.
Eurydice smiled. "Thank you, sir."
"But that's not all, Miss Solis," Professor Slughorn exclaimed, rather excited himself for the girl in front of him.
"There is a Christmas party next Saturday, very prestigious, very fancy, that I am hosting for all my club members. There will be food, music and champagne, but I insist that you are only allowed one glass of champagne," The man emphasised, grinning whilst pointing cheekily at Eurydice.
"Will I see you there?"
She nodded, smiling widely whilst Slughorn clapped his hands together.
"Splendid." The man reciprocated Eurydice's smile before focusing his attention on the rest of his class.
Eurydice walked to her seat next to Lily, who overheard the entire conversation and was grinning rather excitedly, grateful that one of her friends could finally accompany her to the events. Eurydice chuckled at her excitement, yet her laughter died down when her eyes caught the eyes that would often pierce through her dreams, eyes that would haunt her like a welcome melody.
Regulus was sat by the table next to hers, his notebook opened to a fresh page and his pot of ink filled to the brim, ready for his quill to drop in and start writing. The boy gazed at her, ignoring the girl next to him who was requesting a spare quill. It wasn't a cold gaze, no, rather it was a gaze of longing, of warmth, of adoration. His mouth didn't twitch into a smile, his hands did not move, his eyebrows remained motionless, but he didn't need to move, or express his emotions. His eyes did that for him and did it quite well; perhaps too well.
Eurydice smiled softly at him, but the politeness was not reciprocated. It did not need to be. Yes, her smile uttered hello but his eyes had said something that could not be measured with words.
The girl took her seat, placing her books gently on the table and resisting the urge to glance over at Regulus whose gaze she could still feel piercing through her.
"Alright everybody, settle down, settle down," Professor Slughorn silenced the class, then strolled over to a cauldron brewing with pink and white. He looked at it then glanced up at the room of curious students.
"I thought I could begin today's lesson with a brief introduction to a potion, a dangerous potion that I do hope none of you will ever be a victim of."
Students murmured, turning to each other with puzzled faces.
Eurydice and Lily grinned at each other, finding joy in the Professor's dramatics.
"This potion is Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world," Slughorn began, the student's curiosity only growing.
"Because it is the most powerful love potion in the world, it is also one of the most dangerous potions," He lifted up a spoon of the potion and poured it back into the cauldron, the trinkle of the liquid filling the silence of the room.
"One drop of this and it could make anyone do anything for the one they 'love'." Slughorn walked to the front of the classroom, arms behind his back as he peered across the rows of students.
"Could I have a volunteer to come up and smell the potion?"
Many students raised their hands, arms stretching in an attempt to be picked, however Slughorn ignored them all.
"How about," he pondered, a finger on his chin as he glanced at the students who appeared nonchalant.
"..Mister Regulus Black."
The raven-haired boy turned his head to face the Professor, a momentary expression of shock on his face before it returned to its normal, stoic expression.
He stood from his chair, the wooden legs scraping against the wooden floor, and walked to the cauldron, looking up to Slughorn for confirmation.
The Professor nodded, and Regulus leaned forward slightly to sniff the potion.
"Well? What do you smell?" Slughorn asked.
The boy took another whiff before opening his mouth to speak.
"I smell... freshly cut roses,"
Slughorn nodded, gesturing with his hands for the boy to continue.
"..Honey,"
Eurydice stared at Regulus, the conflict of his senses present through the furrow of his eyebrows.
"And... old books." He drew closer to the cauldron, getting lost in the Amortentia, his stoic face relaxing as the effects of the strong potion implanted in his brain and took control of all his senses.
Before the effects of the potion could fully take its wrongful place, Slughorn placed the lid over the cauldron delicately, making Regulus gain control over his own body once again.
"Thank you, Mister Black."
The boy hurried to his seat, a frown burned onto his face as his eyes focused on the mahogany table in front of him, his head turned down as if to avoid the stare of others.
Eurydice glanced at him, concern painting itself onto a face that was otherwise the epitome of Sunshine and flowers. Regulus clearly did not want to be involved with that potion, which was seen in the way he hesitated before he stood up, the way he looked at Slughorn with a slight begging look in his eyes, the way he fought to withhold the effects of the potion. The way he could not look in Eurydice's direction the rest of the lesson.
When the Professor dismissed the class, Regulus was the first to leave, hurrying out the door without looking back.
"Wow, I think he learnt something he didn't want to know when he smelled that Amortentia." Lily joked, but the comment was not heard in the midst of concerned voices swarming around Eurydice's mind.
The two walked out of the classroom, only to be met with the mischievous grin of Sirius Black.
"Hello, ladies." His gaze was only focused on Eurydice, whilst Lily grinned and rolled her eyes at Sirius' unabashed staring.
"Hi, Siri." Eurydice muttered, utterly distracted by the thought of his brother.
Sirius noticed the anxious way that she bit her lip, though he could not help but fawn over how cute it was in his mind.
"Everything alright, darling?"
"Oh, I'm sure she's just thinking about what outfit she's going to wear next Saturday to Slughorn's Christmas party." Lily grinned, strolling in the opposite direction.
"You got invited into the Slug Club?" The boy smirked, walking alongside Eurydice.
"Yes, I did." She said, a grin on her face as if daring him to comment on it.
"Hm, I didn't know you were a complete and utter geek."
Eurydice gasped in pretend offence whilst Sirius laughed.
"I'm not a geek, I just do good work, that's all."
"That's what they all say." Sirius murmured under his breath, not quiet enough that she could not hear it. Eurydice slapped the side of his arm, though it could be barely considered a slap, as Sirius laughed boisterously, drawing the girl to join in with the laughter.
"OK, OK, you're not a geek!"
"Thank you."
A moment of peaceful silence fell upon them, in which Sirius took the books Eurydice was carrying and decided to carry them himself, silently delighting in the small but grateful smile the girl gave him.
"..So who are you going to take to this Christmas party?" Sirius asked, acting as if he was wondering out of pure inquisitiveness.
"I'm allowed to take guests?"
"Yeah. Well, only one."
Eurydice nodded.
"..So who are you going to take?" He repeated his question.
"I'm not sure. Probably no one."
Sirius sighed as if he was devastated with her answer.
"Shame. Here I thought you were going to ask me."
Eurydice grinned, amused at the boy's horrific acting skills.
"I didn't think you were interested in attending a Slug Club's party."
"Well, usually I'm not," Sirius paused, turning to face the girl with a cocky smirk on his face, Eurydice rolling her eyes before he could finish his sentence.
"But I could make an exception for you."
"Smooth, Siri."
"But actually please take me. If you do, I promise to make it ten times more fun." Sirius begged.
Eurydice took a moment, pretending to consider Sirius' offer before nodding.
"OK, fine, I'll take you. But you have to promise not to drink all of the champagne. There's a one drink limit per person."
"Fine by me. Hate the taste of champagne anyway."
Sirius walked Eurydice to her next lesson with a smug grin on his face and an extra hop in his step. He believed that the girl of his dreams, the girl that was created for him in heaven, was closer to him, no longer completely out of his reach. He believed that they were the meaning of the word destiny; Sirius and Eurydice were meant to be. Since that first day they met, Sirius had a feeling rooted in his heart that she was the one who would make him forget everything he thought he knew about life; she was his life. Sirius knew that one day he would wake up and get to call her his, and she would call him hers - he wouldn't want to have it any other way.
However, Sirius did not know that throughout their entire time talking and walking, Eurydice was thinking of his brother. Not him. It was never him.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
how i look at my screen after y/n just got called kitten/puppy/bunny
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙
There once was a king, young and innocent, with rows of knights proud to serve him, with followers worshipping every inch of grass the young king walked upon, with a queen that loved him with all the strength her heart held.
He was satisfied, living in perfect contentment and serenity. With a castle the size of a mountain and riches beyond what imagination can conjure, the young king woke up from his deep slumber every golden morning with a smile on his face that matched the shine of every gold coin in his possession.
The king became older, and the mornings became dark. The rows of knights became an army of knights, and their pride became fear. The followers became slaves, and the queen became an accessary, only remembered when the king needed a golden hand on his arm.
Hubris intoxicated his mind, the desire to have more and the disappointment of not having enough clouded the content the king had felt beforehand. He wanted a castle the size of heaven, and riches beyond what people begged for. His face had forgotten how to smile, as the heavy weight of his pure gold crown became weightless.
Swords and blood fell through thousands of towns and villages, the king claiming all their wealth, all what was rightfully his. War descended across the nations, a war he began and aimed to end. He would not stop until every other crown was melted into his throne.
Another king, older and wiser, from a nearby land, had heard of the hubristic king's wrath, had received warnings from other kingdoms to hide or to run. He chose neither. He chose to sit in his throne when the greedy king shoved his castle's doors open. He chose to grin when the king threatened him. He chose to kill him with his own sword and take his heavy crown when the king spat at the throne.
The day the king died was the day the heavens rejoiced, and the people danced, celebrations lasting until the golden Sun fell into sleep's embrace. Cheers and laughter rung throughout the lands, whilst the king's body stood on a pike, a warning to every other king to not let hubris slither its way into their heart.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Regulus closed the book when he finished reading the last page and tossed it aside in a careless manner that conveyed his hatred for the piece of literature. His eyes scanned across the pages, taking the words written to his brain, which spat the words out in disgust.
How could Eurydice have read these things? How did she become excited at the ridiculous plots and predictable endings?
The boy scoffed. Fables, he believed, were foolish and weak. Although, he supposed perhaps some of them provided a good lesson. He could recall that odd one time he read a fable that surpassed his expectations.
Eyes that were melting into an ocean of blue glanced at the clock. 12:34pm. Regulus decided to stand up from his sprawled-out position on the couch and make his way down to the Great Hall for lunch, not before fixing his tie and shoving his jumper over his head.
He walked into the large hall, chaos occurring as first years threw food across the tables whilst the last years were attempting to study for O.W.L.S without having ham or butter ruin their notes.
Barty Crouch Jr, Regulus' newly Death-Eater friend, waved him over to the Slytherin table. Regulus followed, glancing at the blonde-haired boy sat beside Barty, who glared at Gryffindors behind him who was only talking, chatting in such an animated and excited way.
"Where have you been?" Barty asked once Regulus sat opposite him.
"In the common room." The boy murmured back, grabbing a plate from the large stack, and placing two pieces of bread with butter spread across them neatly on the plate.
"Fucking hell, you're such a hermit." Barty chuckled whilst shaking his head, spreading jam on his bread.
"Why, because I enjoy being alone?" Regulus answered back, one eyebrow raised as a challenge for a response.
"No because you're that boring, you have no choice but to be alone." The blonde-haired boy, Evan Rosier, sneered at the boy sat across from him, who only glared back.
"Oi," Barty lifted the sharp knife that was covered in jam away from his bread and towards Evan, staring at him with a look that could only be described as dangerous. "You call him boring again and I'll use all three of the Unforgiveable Curses on you, understood?"
Evan only nodded; eyes wide in slight fear. He did not doubt his words, recalling the incident in the second year when Barty gave the boy a purple and blue eye after he had taken Regulus' wand as a joke.
"Anyway, you're one to talk, Rosier," Barty took a bite of the jam-covered bread. "Weren't you just talking about how some bird winked at you in Hogsmeade?"
"That's not boring." Evan's eyebrows furrowed.
"It is after you hear about it for the 20th time. I mean, for fuck's sake Rosier, it happened in the first year and she didn't even mean to wink at you."
"Oh, this again. For the last time, she was not winking at Michael Frost!"
"If you compare both you from the first year and Michael Frost, a sixth year who had every single bloody girl wrapped around his fingers, she was definitely winking at him!"
Regulus tuned out their bickering, regretting his decision to have lunch at an earlier time than he usually did (to avoid his loud-mouthed friends). Barty lifted his arm up from the table where it had been resting, and his sleeve rolled down only a little bit, revealing a sliver of misty black and grey.
The raven-haired boy focused his gaze on the bread resting on the plate beneath him, forcing any thoughts of fear and despondency out of his mind, locking away questions that would plague him at night, coming to him when he desperately wanted to sleep but could not.
His eyes shifted their gaze up, accidentally connecting with all-too-familiar eyes that his mind often painted in his dreams.
She smiled softly, ignoring the commotion of laughter and accusations surrounding her, eyes that kept a sliver of Sunlight in them focused on eyes that mimicked Moondust bouncing off ocean waves.
Against his own will, his lips turned upwards slightly, the sight of her welcoming his eyes and intoxicating his mind.
However, Barty turned around to what Regulus was placing all his attention on, or rather who, breaking the moment as fast as it had begun.
The boy looked down to avoid his suspicious stare.
"Why are you looking at Eurydice Solis?" Barty leaned forward, practically forcing the boy glance at his eyes that had a snake slithering and hissing in them.
"I wasn't." Regulus softly murmured.
"Yeah, he was more eye-fucking her." Evan joked, attempting to get a laugh from Barty, but to no avail; his joke landed on deaf ears.
"Yeah you were." Barty tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed as he looked his friend up and down, analysing his stiffness and his lack of eye-contact.
"I mean, it's okay if you were looking at her because, well, she's not exactly ugly," Barty grinned, whilst Evan smirked and turned around to ogle at Eurydice, who in turn was frowning in discomfort.
"But then, you snap out of it," He snapped his fingers, making Regulus look up from the table. "Because she's a Mudblood."
"A filthy Mudblood." Evan added, turning back around to face his friends.
Regulus glanced down once again, a momentary minute of silence between the three.
"Ey, Regulus?" Barty stared him down, seeking an agreement to the derogatory term used against the girl.
The boy nodded in answer, feeling such strong disappointment in himself. Coward, weak, pathetic, feeble. All these words being screamed in his head as he shifted in his seat, growing smaller into himself as his friends laughed boisterously and the girl who he had been so focused on, the filthy Mudblood in his friends' eyes, was left dismayed.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
It had turned 10pm, and like clockwork, Regulus walked out of his dorm which he shared with Barty and three other poor souls who had no choice but to listen to Barty's incessant rambles and watch as the ash from his cigarettes fell on the shared couch. Like every night, Regulus used the excuse of prefect duties, thankful for the title providing him with reasons and opportunities to escape the clutches of his erratic friend.
He walked with straight posture, with his head tilted down, his eyes only maintaining contact with the stone floor beneath him. Teachers that walked past him paid him no mind, accustomed to the sight of the prefect boy fulfilling his prefect duties every night; Regulus had them believed.
He reached the library door and did not open it until he glanced around for any students or professors lingering around. As usual, there was no one in sight. Regulus opened the heavy door slowly and as quietly as he could, being mindful of the creaky hinges.
Once he stepped inside, the boy closed it as slowly as he opened it and turned around. He walked to the table he had been sitting by since two weeks before and pulled out of the chair, his face grimacing as the wooden legs scraped against the wooden floor.
Regulus glanced up, only momentarily, but his eyes landed on a girl with whom, he would never admit to himself, he had grown a deep fondness of.
Eurydice Solis sat on the windowsill on the opposite end of the library, no book in her hands or lap, her eyes focused on the scenery outside.
It was strange for the girl to be there before him. Every night, Regulus would leave at 10pm to the library and wait with bated breath for the girl to open those library doors. Every night.
However, that night, she was there before him. He didn't know how long she was there for but had a sense that perhaps it had been a while. Her dressing gown was wrapped across her lap like a blanket, and her head had been rested on the window itself, her breath fanning across it gently as the whips of her hair twirled with the barely-there breeze. A sliver of the window had been opened and she shivered, yet she made no effort to close it.
The girl turned her head around quickly to face Regulus, who had no time to look away as if he was not memorised by the mere sight of her. She smiled softly, tiredly, like she had been waiting for an age to see his face.
"Hi." She murmured softly; her voice only just heard.
Regulus did not reply but instead smiled slightly, taking slow, calculated steps towards her.
"Why are you sat on the windowsill?" He asked once he stopped beside her.
The girl turned her gaze towards the outside once again, oblivious to how he admired her like she admired the Moon.
"I just wanted to look outside." She sighed, folding her legs up towards her and resting them against the window.
"Sit with me." She asked.
And so he did.
He sat on the edge of the windowsill, as if there was not plenty of room for him to sit comfortably and stared out the window just like she had been.
Trees waved with their branches as the wind blew gently across them, whilst the stars, the holes in the midnight sky that heaven filled, shone luminously. But the Moon shone brighter, shone better. The Moon had the glow of a thousand stars, a million candles, an infinite amount of the dust that fell from the clouds of heaven. Yet none of it shone brighter than her eyes.
"I can't wait for snow." Eurydice broke the silence, her voice quiet and timid.
"I hate snow." Regulus murmured, grinning slightly when Eurydice turned to him with a puzzled expression.
"You hate snow? How can anyone hate snow?"
"Well," Regulus began, sitting fully on his side of the windowsill and facing her. "It's cold, it's wet and difficult to walk on without falling flat on your face."
Eurydice giggled slightly, making the boy smile brighter.
"How can anyone love snow?"
"It's fluffy!"
"No, it is not."
Eurydice laughed even harder, as if her tiredness had been overcome with giddiness.
"Yes it is!"
"No, it is horrible and hard. I don't know what snow you have seen, but I have never come across fluffy snow." Regulus turned his gaze back outside again, his ears being blessed with the sound of her laughter, whilst his lips turned into a smile, something of which he could not control.
Silence swirled around them once more, as they both fully relaxed, their knees touching whilst Regulus's face had a soft smile glued on.
He looked towards her once more, only to see a conflicted expression on her usually jovial face.
"What's wrong?" He leaned towards her, a frown replacing his smile as she sighed and avoided his eyes full of concern.
"I just..." Eurydice began, struggling to find the words. Her troubled gaze focused on the floor, only making the boy beside her more worried.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me." His hand landed on her knee automatically, without second thought, as if it was a reflex.
She looked into his eyes, oceans of calm, cool water that crashed gently against the shore as the Moon's reflection danced around in the waves and her frown lifted slightly.
"Before, at lunch in the Great Hall, you were sitting with your friends. And we both... looked at each other, then your friend..." She trailed off, looking down at her fidgeting hands. Regulus' hand only tightened its place on her knee.
"I overheard them calling me a... a Mudblood." Eurydice whispered the last part, as if the very word escaping from her mouth wounded her heart. It did, in a way. It left a burn on her heart, a reminder that she would always be just that. A Mudblood. A filthy Mudblood.
"Do you... do you agree with them? Do you think that I'm just... that?" She glanced at him through her eyelashes, her eyes had a shiny gloss over them, preparing the flow of tears if he did agree.
Regulus' eyes softened, whilst he tilted his head and stared at her with a look of affection, of adoration.
"No. Of course not."
The boy moved closer to her upon the sound of a sniffle, only just a further inch, but he felt the warmth that radiated off her, as if she was the very Sun.
"I hate the word. I hate whenever my friends say it." Regulus' eyebrows furrowed, his lips turning into a deep frown of anger, of disgust. But then his features softened into an expression of guilt.
"But... I don't say anything."
"You can't say anything." Eurydice sat straighter, defending Regulus against his own words.
"You can't say anything because if you do... they'll hate you. If you defend me, they will still hurt me." Her voice cracked, tears that she had been pushing back with all her strength fell from the prison she no longer had control over.
Regulus wished to comfort her, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and whisper words of reassurance, words that let her know she is loved, she would always be loved, and he would stop at nothing to protect her. But how can someone comfort another without never receiving it themselves?
"They will never hurt you," The boy assured, the sight of glistening tears making his heart ache. "I promise."
Eurydice wiped her tears away aggressively, supposedly frustrated with her own emotions.
Regulus' frown only grew. "I'm sorry they said it. I'm sorry that you thought I would agree with them. I'm sorry that I don't tell you how... amazing and smart and kind you are. I'm sorry that I never tell you that you are the most incredible person I have ever met."
She looked up from her hands, the start of a smile on her face.
"I am?"
He smiled. "You are."
Eurydice grinned, and despite her blood-shot eyes and her red, blotchy face, Regulus believed wholeheartedly that heaven had been searching for their lost angel, and she was right in front of him.
"Merci, mon ami."
The boy chuckled. "I see that you've been learning more French."
"Oui j'ai trouvé quelques livres." She nodded, smiling brightly.
"Fille belle et intelligente." He softly murmured.
Eurydice tilted her head in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed as her grin only grew. "What does that mean?"
Regulus sighed, smirking to himself. "You'll learn it eventually."
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
The Moon rose higher, the stars following his path as the two spent hours laughing and conversing in French, Regulus being a patient teacher whilst Eurydice fumbled every new word she learnt. Eventually, her eyelids grew heavier, and her yawns grew longer, so Regulus convinced her to go sleep, despite her attempts at denying her exhaustion. The girl left at half past midnight, and the boy stayed until 2am, watching as the sky grew darker and the stars turned whiter against the backdrop of dark, dark blue.
He did not admire the stars, the Moon, or the trees, but rather he thought about the way her tears that flowed down her cheeks trapped stardust in them, he remembered how her bottom lip quivered as she attempted to hide her face from him, like she wasn't the most beautiful creation that walked the earth. He did not know what was happening to his heart or to his mind, but he knew that it was not plagued by Eurydice. No, a plague would suggest that the thought of her was a sickness, was unwelcome. Rather, he was blessed by the very image of her every day.
Regulus did not know what he was feeling. But he did not mind the mystery, the mystery of her. He enjoyed it, like the Moon enjoyed the lingering warmth of the Sun in summer.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
series masterlist
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓
Winter can be bitter. It can be unmerciful, cruel. It can be like a dozen daggers thrown against your face, like waking up to the grey sky, the privation of the Sun meaning that no warmth is felt. Winter can also be kind. It can be joyous, convivial. It can be like drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate, feeling the liquid trail down your throat and settle on your heart. Whilst the appearance of the Sun becomes rarer and occasional, the Moon only glows luminously, basking in the appreciation of those who smile at him through windows, admiring his brothers and sisters that surround him.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
Hogwarts seemed to thrive in the winter, as if the promise of snow and presents encouraged students to become more studious, intellectual. Although it was a long time until said snow and presents, the majority roamed the castle halls with smiles that competed with the glow of the candles.
Eurydice's smile was more vivid than usual, her beam brighter than sunshine and moondust. Her walk became swan-like, similar to ballroom dances in which dancers would float as if they were angels. Yes, she was exactly like that; floating around as if golden wings carried her.
Her friends ruled that her exultant behaviour was a result of her love for winter, and the merriness it brought along with it. They didn't know the real reason for her smile only growing every day, the reason why she became more energised as the sky grew darker until it matched the colour of his hair. They couldn't know the real reason. Sirius most certainly could not know.
It was the day after Halloween, November 1st, when the Jack-O-Lanterns in the Great Hall became the regular, usual candles and children had sweet wrappers falling out of their robe pockets everywhere they skipped. Eurydice had spent Halloween night with plastic fangs sticking out of her mouth, fake blood drooling down her chin whilst Sirius had put on cat ears and drawn whiskers on his cheeks. James dressed up as Dumbledore with a fake grey beard and a grey cloak: Marlene, Mary and Dorcas took their inspiration from their favourite band ABBA and spent the whole evening with golden boots and sparkly jumpsuits on; Lily adorned her witch's hat (claiming that her costume was a witch) whilst Remus did not join in with the muggle Halloween festivities. It was a night consisting of laughter, dancing and an attempt at singing. It was a night of Marlene, Mary and Dorcas shouting ABBA songs and James mimicking Dumbledore's voice. It was a night of Sirius staring at Eurydice with such adoration, such love and trying to deny the claims that Lily and Remus were accusing him of, saying rather confidently that he was in love with her.
Eurydice had suggested the idea of costumes for Halloween in the first year, which only Lily knew of the tradition, but the rest needed the concept of wearing costumes for Halloween explained to them. Over time, it became anticipated through the rest of the year, Sirius blurting out ideas of costumes during lunch.
Yes, the evening was delightful for Eurydice, however her mind could not stop drifting to a certain raven-haired boy in the library; it could not stop replaying the last time his ocean blue eyes glanced into hers, softening like the waves calming down after a storm.
The night of November 1st, Eurydice made her way down to the library, shivering slightly underneath James' invisibility cloak and regretting her choice of not wearing her dressing gown.
She reached the door and opened it slowly, careful not to make it creak. She shrugged off the cloak and turned to face away from the door.
He wasn't sat where he usually was, two tables away from her seat. The boy was sat opposite her seat. The boy was staring at her as if he was the one doing something he should not be doing.
"Eurydice." Regulus breathed out, placing his book down on the table.
She moved past her initial surprise and smiled. "Regulus."
She advanced towards the table, her table, or perhaps his table, seeing if he would mind her sitting opposite him.
Regulus seemed not to mind, but rather prefer it, as if the one night she didn't come to the library made him crave to be closer.
His eyes watched her, bored into her skull as she took her seat and placed her book down on the table.
"Where were you yesterday?" His meek voice escaped from his mouth, his book still forgotten on the table.
"Oh, I was celebrating Halloween with my friends." With his brother. His brother who would react unkindly if he possessed the knowledge of who Eurydice saw when she sneaked out at night.
"What about you? Did you do anything for Halloween?"
Regulus glanced down at his book and lifted it from the table, as if remembering it was there.
"No. I don't celebrate it."
Eurydice frowned. "At all?"
Regulus remained quiet, choosing to read his book rather than answer her.
She looked down at the title of the book, tilting her head to try and read it. Alas, she could not concentrate.
"What is that book called?"
Regulus' eyes flitted back up to hers.
"You know, the book you're reading." Eurydice clarified unnecessarily, growing anxious beneath his gaze.
"Bataille pour la liberté."
She tilted her head in confusion, the corner of Regulus' lips twitching.
"Battle for Freedom."
"Oh." Eurydice nodded, smiling slightly as she kept looking at the book, whilst the boy sat opposite only looked at her.
"It's French." Regulus murmured.
"You know French?"
He nodded. "I'm fluent in French."
Eurydice looked up, their eyes connecting just for a moment before his turned down.
"My mother's side of the family is French."
"It's cool that you're fluent in it."
Regulus tilted his head and his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"Well, it's such a romantic language. I wish I was fluent in French, I only know how to say hello."
He smiled slightly. "Bonjour."
Eurydice grinned, sitting up straighter.
"Bonjour!" She flourished her hand, saying the word in a poor attempt at a French accent.
He chuckled, and she marvelled at the sound. She had rarely saw him smile, never mind hear his laugh; albeit short, but heavenly. The feeling that rushed through her was the equivalent to gazing up at the midnight sky, admiring the Moon and his glistening glow, being at peace in night's serenity.
"French is not a hard language to learn." Regulus placed his book down once again.
"Yes, well, for me it would take about 20 years to learn one phrase."
He grinned once again.
"Je suis extrêmement malin."
Eurydice tilted her head and smiled. "What does that mean?"
Regulus shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Can you say it?"
"...Say it again."
He leaned closer, only moving an inch yet it felt as if the distance between the two was the width of a finger. "Je suis extrêmement malin." The boy repeated the phrase slowly and clearly.
"Je... Je suis extra... no,"
Whilst she struggled, Regulus smiled softly, watching as her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, her lips whispering attempts at saying the French words.
"Je suis extrêmement malin." She grinned in victory, lifting her gaze up to his soft eyes, no longer a crashing ocean of waves but rather a lake of calm water, reflecting the Moon's glow.
"Perfect."
Smiles were painted on each other's faces, as if in sync.
"What does it mean?"
"I am extremely smart."
"..Did you just make me call myself smart?"
The boy nodded. "I did indeed. Because you are."
Eurydice's smile only widened, her cheeks matching the shade of the pink roses in Professor Sprout's garden.
"..Thank you."
Regulus shook his head, sitting straighter in his chair and moving away from the girl, no longer having a close distance between them.
"I didn't do anything."
"But you did. You taught me French." She smirked, leaning forward in her chair.
"You suis extrêmement malin."
Regulus grinned in amusement. "Are you trying to call me smart?"
"..Yes."
"It's 'tu es extrêmement malin'."
"Ah, well then, tu es extrêmement malin."
The boy shifted his attention back to his book, hiding away his smile.
"Thank you."
"I didn't do anything." She parroted his words back to him, giggling when he rolled his eyes and grinned slightly, only just a slight, but nonetheless Eurydice saw it, saw the change of his sullen look to a more joyous one, and felt pride within herself that she made that happen, a pride that perhaps was not pride, but rather something warmer, fluttery, lovely.
Unlike other nights, the two spent the rest of their limited time at the library stealing glances and smiling when they made eye contact, as if their hearts compelled them to. They were in too deep, far past of the point of no return. They could not act as if they did not care for each other, they could not ignore each other in the halls as if they did not bask in each other's company the previous night, they could not pretend the other didn't exist when they saw each other's smile and felt something compared to the nothingness they would feel at someone else's smile. No, it was turning dangerous.
─── ⋆⋅⋅⋆ ───
