regulus black ✦

Sixth year.

The Slytherin common room was nearly empty, glowing softly in the green firelight. The fire crackled in the hearth, and beyond the window the lake moved dark and slow, making the whole room feel distant and quiet.

You were curled up on one of the couches with a book in your lap, though you had stopped reading a long time ago. It was enough just to be there, wrapped in silence.

Then you heard footsteps.

You did not look up right away, because you already knew who it was.

Regulus always walked like that — quietly, carefully, as if he never wanted to disturb the air around him. After so long, you could recognize him by sound alone. He crossed the room and sat beside you, not too close, but close enough that his presence felt familiar.

“You’re here again,” he said softly.

You turned a page you had no intention of reading.

“And you sound surprised?”

The corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

Neither of you spoke for a while. With anyone else, the silence might have felt awkward. With him, it felt natural. He knew your habits, and you knew his. He remembered the small things, the things no one else paid attention to.

“You look gloomy,” you said at last, glancing at him.

“I’m not gloomy.”

“You are.”

He looked at you then, and something in his eyes made your chest tighten. Not because it was dramatic, but because it was quiet. Careful. Full of something he had been trying very hard not to say.

And then you understood.

Regulus Black had been in love with you for a long time.

Not loudly. Not recklessly. Just slowly, quietly, almost against his own will. In the pauses. In the glances that lasted too long. In the way he always stayed.

He said nothing.

He only remained beside you, and when your shoulder almost touched his sleeve, he did not move away.

And somehow, that was enough.